Tag: ABWbrandambassador

Apple Blossom Wovens Under The Sea v2

I’ve had the pleasure of representing Apple Blossom Wovens as a Brand Ambassador for a little while now, and it has been a wonderful, eye-opening experience! Hopefully you’ve seen some of my pictures of me loving Under the Sea v2 with black linen weft on my Instagram and Facebook page, but I am going to give a full review here.

Close up of a blue, aqua, and green graduated woven wrap with small black zig zags, and many snowflakes on it.
Under the Sea v2 with black linen weft took us out for coffee on the snowiest day this winter in NYC.

I will begin with a confession: I am a reformed linen hater. I can’t even classify this feeling as a strong dislike – it used to be that if a wrap was a linen blend, then it was not not not for me. I found linen too hard to wrap with, too stiff, too diggy, and I could hardly even wear a linen blend wrap long enough to tell if it was supportive, but I was sure it was not. Hrumph. I would read reviews from people raving about linen blends, and I just thought, “Oh well, we just must have different taste in wraps…thank goodness for hemp!” (I still love hemp blends.) Just so that you don’t think I came to this conclusion hastily, it is important for me to say that I tried *a lot* of linen blends, and even some of the “all-star” linen woven wraps (Yew for example). Even with all of that, linen blends were still not for me…

Image of a light skinned black woman carrying a light skinned black toddler on her back in a blue, aqua, and green graduated woven wrap. The toddler is rubbing his eyes, and is wearing a red winter jacket. The woman is wearing a grey jacket and smiling at the camera. Both have curly hair.
Eye rubbing during an early morning walk in Under the Sea v2 with black linen weft.

Until now y’all! I am a changed woman!!!! When I became a Brand Ambassador for ABW, I chose Under the Sea v2 with black linen weft because 1) I love black wefts,  2) I thought, “well, if I hate it maybe I can trade it when I’m done with my ambassadorship”, and 3) I also thought, “maybe this will be a good challenge for me because I will have to wrap with it!”

Bumshot of a blue, aqua, and green woven wrap with small black zig zags. The large toddler is wearing a red jacket and the hood is visible at the top of the picture.
Under the Sea v2 with black linen weft is super supportive and allows me to carry my big kiddo on my back with ease.

As usual, I was right (haha)! When I received UTSv2, I was immediately blown away by the colors. The black weft gives it deep jewel tones and the gradation is gorgeous, but I have to say that it was not love at first wrap. After a wash and steam iron, it was pretty soft and I mistakenly thought that was close to as broken in as it would get. I like to break in wraps by just wrapping with them – getting sweaty while battling a new wrap is a great workout. When I wrapped with it the first couple of times, I fought against the grip and found tightening well to be quite challenging. I was frustrated, but I persevered and it was totally worth the extra work. UTSv2 broke in nicely and now I am *very* excited to see how it takes us into the hot, sweaty weather of Summer in NYC. This is going to be my first summer with a linen wrap that I like to wear!

Bumshot of a blue, aqua, and green graduated woven wrap, wrapped in several overlapping passes. A tile mosaic of a large fish from the NYC subway is visible in the background.
Under the Sea v2 with black linen weft, under the sea!
Over the shoulder selfie view of a blue, aqua, and green graduated woven wrap with small black zig zags carring a large curly haired toddler on a wearer's back.
Under the Sea v2 with black linen weft has taken us many places this winter. Here we were on our way to the American Museum of Natural History!

It is worth mentioning some of the qualities that I love about UTSv2: it is not diggy *at all*, it is super supportive with my big kiddo and much less stretchy than the cotton weft UTS that I reviewed here, but UTSv2 still maintains its ability to make a killer chest pass (even over bulky winter clothes). Possibly my favorite thing about it is the color – it’s beautiful…

Torso view of a wrapper wearing a white fleece coat and carrying a large toddler on her back in a blue, aqua, and green graduated woven wrap tied in a chest pass with a candy cane chest belt. The toddler's legs are visible and he has on khaki pants with flannel lining.
Under the Sea v2 with black linen weft makes an amazing chest pass over a fleece jacket.

I have mostly worn UTSv2 in my favorite back carry, Wendy’s Double Hammock with a candy cane chest belt (Wendy’s DH CCCB), and I even made a tutorial for this carry (my first tutorial!). I have also experimented with Double Hammock Freshwater Finish, and UTSv2 has been awesome in that carry too. In the months that I have had UTSv2, I have yet to get LittlerHill in a front carry with any success, but I promise to update with my thoughts if it happens.

Torso view of a blue, aqua, and green graduated woven wrap tied in a freshwater finish over a black puffy coat.
Under the Sea v2 with black linen weft in a Double Hammock carry with a Freshwater finish.

I recommend this wrap for every wrapper, and any size wrappee! It is very easy to work with once broken in, thin enough for a new wrapper, sturdy enough for a big kiddo but soft enough for an infant, and has different colored rails for a newer wrapper to more easily be able to keep track while strand by strand tightening.

Torso view of a light skinned black woman wearing a light skinned black toddler on her back in a blue, aqua, and green graduated woven wrap tied in a chest pass with a candy cane chest belt. She is wearing a light grey sweater with the hood over her right shoulder, and red lipstick.
Under the Sea v2 with black linen weft in my favorite back carry, Wendy’s Double Hammock with a Candy Cane Chest Belt.

THE STATS

weaver: Apple Blossom Wovens

weave: machine woven point twill

size: 7 – 5.2m (as listed by ABW for this wrap)

width: 25.5″ (as listed by ABW for this wrap)

soft tape in hand: 5.41m

weight: 290 gsm (as listed by ABW for this wrap)

blend: 75% cotton, 25% linen

wrappee: 33+ lbs of toddler

carries tried: Wendy’s double hammock tied with candy cane chest belt (Wendy’s DH with CCCB), Double Hammock Freshwater Finish

wrap qualities: thinnish, not very stretchy, very supportive, moderately cushy, not diggy at all, flat, grippy, sturdy, moldable, toddler worthy